Formal import through a licenced firearms dealer?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
tbonesmith
I have one stuck in customs because it failed a trigger weight test
What on earth have customs to do with trigger weight? OK, it's your local regulations, but it seems barmy to me. If they want to make a check that the rifle is safe to use, are they going to conduct a proof firing test as well?
If you have to live with this, then ask them, most politely: What would be the situation if you had imported a rifle without a trigger - a barrelled action, for instance, with no trigger at all?
My guess is that they would not be bothered. It is the light trigger as a component that seems to be the problem. In which case, you could suggest to them, that the trigger assembly be formally scrapped and you mount a new one - which you could have done anyway, once the rifle has left customs.
I just hope they are amenable to common sense.
But there is one possible flaw in this approach: If Bubba has indeed lightened the trigger weight by filing off the angle on the cocking piece - and unfortunately that is one of his favorite tricks - then a new trigger assembly will not help. In such a case, the cocking piece is FUBAR and, whether or not it should be their responsibility, customs would be correct in regarding the rifle as unsafe. In that case, the cocking piece must be scrapped.
In any case, it seems plausible that they customs should permit you to import the rifle after scrapping any components which are unsafe. You are then effectively importing components, not a complete firearm. If legislation makes this problematic for a private person, then let the rifle be formally imported by a registered dealer, incomplete if need be. What happens to the rifle after the dealer has imported it is then no longer a matter for customs.
